2025 Cybersecurity Status Report
Cyberthreats to SMEs at a record high
The Transfer Centre for Cybersecurity in SMEs has published its latest status report for 2025 at the start of Cybersecurity Month. The report provides a detailed overview of current cyberthreats to small and medium-sized enterprises in Germany, showing that the number of attacks has increased significantly. Phishing and AI-based methods in particular are on the rise.
Germany in the focus of cybercriminals
According to police crime statistics for 2024, 80 percent of the evaluated 950 ransomware attacks targeted small and medium-sized enterprises. In 251 cases, data leakage was also detected. ”By now at the latest, small and medium-sized enterprises should take the situation seriously and consistently implement appropriate measures to secure their businesses,” says Dr. Dirk Achenbach, project manager at the Transfer Centre for Cybersecurity in SMEs, summarizing the findings.
Phishing and AI increase the threat
Employees are the focus of attackers: managers have to fend off an average of 57 targeted phishing attacks per year, while IT managers face 40 attacks.
The role of Artificial Intelligence is particularly worrying: AI-generated phishing emails have become so proficient that 60 percent of recipients do not identify them as fraud. Deepfake attacks increased by 1100 percent in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the previous year.
Ransomware as the dominant threat
After initial access via phishing, ransomware attacks usually follow with double extortion: 72 percent of all ransomware attacks use the double extortion method, in which data is not only encrypted but also stolen, and threats are made to publish it. The most common ransomware variants are LockBit, Phobos, and MetaEncrypter.
FZI offers emergency assistance for small and medium-sized enterprises
The FZI Research Center for Information Technology operates a cybersecurity emergency assistance service as a specialist partner of the Transfer Centre for Cybersecurity in SMEs, which is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. This platform provides free support to SMEs, start-ups, and craft businesses in the prevention, detection, and response to cyberattacks.
In an emergency, companies receive initial feedback from IT service providers within eight minutes and can access professional support within five hours.
In addition, the FZI offers the CYBERsicher Check, a tool for assessing your own IT security, and provides practical protection measures in 16 free events during Cybersecurity Month.
About the FZI
The FZI Research Center for Information Technology, headquartered in Karlsruhe with a branch office in Berlin, is a non-profit institution dedicated to research in information technology applications and technology transfer. It delivers the latest scientific findings in information technology to companies and public institutions. It qualifies individuals for academic and business careers, as well as for the leap into self-employment. Supervised by professors from various faculties, the research groups at the FZI develop interdisciplinary concepts, software, hardware, and system solutions for their clients and implement the solutions found as prototypes. The FZI House of Living Labs offers a distinctive research environment for applied research. The FZI is an innovation partner of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and a strategic partner of the German Informatics Society (GI).